OVER THE COUNTER: Age places no limit on working out well

If summertime has spurred you into working out again – or if you’ve already been regularly exercising but feel you’ve hit a plateau – we’ve got some good news and some bad news.

First, the bad news. It’s not your imagination: sprinting, lifting heavy weights and throwing a ball hard and fast not only seem harder than they did when you were in your teens and 20s, they are harder. Your body is changing, and you’re likely feeling more challenges by your mid-30s and especially into your 40s and 50s, and on.

The good news, however, is that you still have the ability to build and maintain strength, agility, speed, flexibility and focus throughout most of your life. In fact, people generally don’t see their strength potential decline too much until they’re in their 40s. And no matter your age, you will be healthier, and your muscles more powerful, if you work out routinely. Also, if you’re a regular reader here, you already know that exercise improves nearly every aspect of your life, including your heart health, mood, sex drive, energy levels, bone strength and your risk of getting various diseases.

As you age, however, you must strategize more to make the most of your workouts. Not only is it far more important to warm up and stretch to avoid injury, but it’s crucial to eat the right foods at the right times and take the right supplements.

First, the most basic advice for athletes of all ages is to get proper rest and nutrition and to drink plenty of fluids. There’s no cheating here: You will achieve more – no matter if you’re in your 20s or 60s – if you are well rested, getting proper nutrients and staying fully hydrated. For people who work out strenuously, this means drinking enough fluids before, during and after training. It also means eating a medium-sized meal of mostly carbohydrates, such as whole-grain bread and fruit, and a moderate amount of protein, such as some peanut butter or a small slice of fish, an hour or so prior to exercising. Follow the meal with a cup of coffee or tea to give you an extra boost. But avoid so-called energy drinks, as these are at best a waste of money and at worst potentially dangerous to your health because of their high levels of caffeine, sugars and stimulants, depending on the brand.

Second, for serious athletes, adding extra supplements may keep you in a condition to lift a little more, throw a little further or dash a bit faster. These include D-ribose, which helps provide energy during exercise; l-carnitine, an amino acid that helps recruit fats as fuel for workouts; and coenzyme Q10, which may aid in cardiovascular health.

Third, what you consume after a hard workout is just as important as what you take before it. This is because after you run or lift weights or throw, your muscles suffer microscopic damage, which can cause the soreness you feel a day or two after hard training. As your body repairs the muscle fibers, they become better conditioned for your next workout, ideally leaving you a bit stronger and quicker than you were before. Using the supplement L-glutamine – an amino acid – 30 minutes after a workout can help the body heal.

Eating healthy, protein-rich foods, as well as fats such as those from nuts and olive oil, along with complex carbohydrates from whole grains, can help your body recover from a strenuous workout. Unless you’re training for a powerlifting competition, you really don’t need to ingest large amounts of protein, which could upset the balance of your diet and possibly stress your kidneys. It’s OK, however, to supplement with whey protein, as long as it’s sourced from well-fed cows that have not been pumped with hormones or antibiotics. If you are just beginning a workout routine or if you’re pushing harder for an upcoming competition, you should consider taking Arnica Montana, a type of homeopathic medicine that may help relieve muscle and joint soreness.

Finally, as you age, you will be served well to incorporate some philosophy into your workouts. Nature will stifle your attempts to keep your biceps as full as they were in your 20s and your running time as fast as it was when you were in high school. Keeping your waistline as trim as when you were in college may prove a futile task.

On the flip side, we hope, you may find these goals of vanity less important as you get older. This is why we encourage you to explore other activities, such as tennis, yoga or a martial art that will train your body but also allow for continual improvement in the sport itself. While you will find you cannot continually lift more weights or sprint more quickly, you can keep perfecting a yoga pose, karate block or other movement through practice.

Our bodies tend to give us back what we put into them, in every respect. Age should be no reason to not nurture and care for ourselves. If fact it may be the best reason to do so.

Steve Bernardi is a compounding pharmacist and Gary Kracoff is a registered pharmacist with a degree in naturopathic medicine at Johnson Compounding & Wellness in Waltham, Mass. For more information, visit www.naturalcompounder.com. Readers with questions about natural or homeopathic medicine, compounded medications, or health in general can e-mail steveandgary@naturalcompounder.com or call 781-893-3870.